Breathe
By Ana Cecilia Pérez
Let's stop for a moment. When was the last time you used your cell phone to, you know, make a call? Surely it was for something like ordering food or an emergency. Because let's be honest: our phone is anything but a phone anymore. It's the Swiss Army knife of our modern lives, but talking on it is almost unnatural. We use it for everything: paying bills, planning trips, playing games, learning recipes... but calling? How old-fashioned!
To understand this complicated relationship we have with our beloved device, let's take a tour through the most absurdly real scenarios in which we live with our cell phones. Get ready, because you're sure to identify with at least one (or all) of them.
Sherlock Mode": Investigator of everything but dropped calls
You're the one who, when you receive a call, goes into detective mode. You look at the number, copy it, paste it into Google and even look up the caller's life history, just to decide if it's worth answering. Result? You don't. Mind you, while you're doing your research, you've already taken the opportunity to look up what restaurant is open nearby, what the weird dream you had last night means, and if you need a passport to travel to Peru. But... Answer? Never.
The "Professional photographer with little space".
There's no mystery here: you use your cell phone as if it were a professional camera. You have pictures of every meal you've eaten in the last six months, panoramas of your vacations, casual selfies (although you take 50 and only keep 3). But when someone calls you in the middle of your impromptu photo shoot, you sigh in frustration. Don't they know I'm capturing my coffee from the perfect angle? Priorities, please.
The "Trapped in the TikTokverse".
Your cell phone is basically a window into a parallel world where you spend hours watching recipe videos, cleaning hacks and choreography you'll never attempt. But the irony is, if someone dials you while you're immersed in the TikTokverse, you freak out like it's an emergency alert. A call? Really? Better text and leave me alone with my algorithm, thanks.
The "Resentful Caller"
You have so many options for communicating-WhatsApp, voice messages, memes, gifs-that when someone dares to call you, you feel like they're crossing a sacred line. "Couldn't they text first?" you think indignantly, as you stare at the screen and decide not to answer. If they really needed you, they'd surely send a WhatsApp, right?
The "Nobody's Executive Assistant
Your phone is your portable office. You handle emails, agendas, Zoom meetings and even important files. But oddly enough, if someone calls you for something work-related, you panic. "Why didn't they put it in an email?" you ask yourself as you ignore the call and keep checking memes to relieve stress.
The "Romantic without memory".
You use your cell phone for everything love-related: you met someone on a dating app, you have a shared playlist on Spotify and, of course, you send endless "good morning" messages. But when that person calls you, you think: what kind of psycho doesn't text before? Romantic yes, but with limits.
The "No WiFi, No Life".
Worst case scenario: running out of data or WiFi. At that point, your phone loses all power. You can no longer watch memes, order an Uber or look up whether the fries you're eating have calories. But a phone call... well, technically you could make one, but who cares about that? You might as well suffer in silence and hope to find a signal soon.
The "Paranoid Drummer"
Your life depends on maintaining at least 40% battery life, lest you lose it and the world collapses. You use your cell phone for maps, messages, reminders and monitoring your steps for the day. But if someone calls you and you use up the precious 3% you have left, you feel they have committed a crime against humanity. How dare they?
The reality is that we have transformed our cell phone into everything but what it was originally designed to do: call. Today it is our compass, our diary and our best digital friend. But that friend has become so multifaceted that we use it for everything but hearing a voice on the other end.
So the next time someone calls you, maybe - just maybe - consider answering. You might find that, even though we're in the age of memes and messages, hearing a voice can be just as useful as the best Instagram filter. Or maybe not. After all, you can always send a "What happened?" message after ignoring the call. Because that's right, the cell phone is no longer for calling.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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